Grade 4 ELA Module 1A, Unit 3

Unit 3 expands on the conversation around symbolism and culture begun in Unit 1 to incorporate global perspectives. Students listen to, view, and close read informational texts regarding the traditions other cultures use to tell stories and pass down information. Students will review oral tradition and revisit it from a different angle as they explore the Griot tradition in Africa. Students will look at how symbols can be captured in art through blanket making in Hawaii and quilt making through Patricia Polacco’s story The Keeping Quilt. Students will revisit specific texts and notes from Units 1 and 2 to examine how the central idea of community connects the texts within the module. Students will use these texts, videos, and their understanding of symbols, community, and cultural traditions to create a “quilt” that defines the classroom community. Each student will create a symbol on a quilt square that represents something they value about themselves and that they bring to the classroom community, such as a positive personality trait or accomplishment. Emulating the practice of oral tradition, students will then explain the symbolism behind their quilt squares, which will be the source of the end-of-unit assessment in which students will write to explain how the student-created quilt will unite the classroom as a community.